Watching by Alex Collins

Author:Alex Collins
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: T L Haddix
Published: 2022-11-07T16:56:47+00:00

Chapter 31

By the time Friday evening rolled around, Joely’s stomach was so full of butterflies, she was surprised she wasn’t levitating. She’d gotten to Tristan’s an hour before the allotted time and was in the process of setting up her computer.

“So you’ll be linked in directly to the computer, right? We can see the images as you take them?” she asked.

“That’s the plan. This isn’t our first rodeo, Joely. We’ll be fine.”

She blew out a breath. “I know. This one’s different though.”

Tristan sat on the edge of the table they’d set up in the back of the room. He studied her closely, the easygoing grin that he often wore absent. “This guy matters to you, doesn’t he?”

Joely stilled. “That’s something of a premature question.”

“Is it?”

She looked at him. What she’d said the other night to Emma, that Tristan was one of the good guys, was one hundred percent true. “I don’t know. I’m going to find out, I guess.”

Tristan smiled. “I’m glad. He seems like a nice enough guy, and I know a lot of people think highly of his brother. People I think highly of.” He picked up a lens and fiddled with it, then set it back down. “You think I can make a go of this place?”

She looked around the open space. The building was two stories and had housed an art gallery until late last year when the gallery’s owner, Charity Vaughn, had decided to move to another building across the square. Tristan was renting it, living in the apartment upstairs and using the first floor as a studio.

“I think so. You’re not going to be offering the same boring family portraits as everyone else in town, and you’ll also be doing commissions like this on the side. You’re not just a pretty face, Tris. As soon as people see what you can do, you’ll be flooded.”

“Thanks. I hope you’re right.” He shrugged. “I got the rent on the place for a steal, given its history. Charity couldn’t stay here any longer. The memories were too much.”

“I can understand that,” Joely said. “What happened was pretty gruesome. I’m not squeamish, and I’d have a hard time living in that apartment.”

Charity had been brutally assaulted and kidnapped from upstairs. As a result, the building had acquired the reputation of being haunted.

“She’s my cousin, you know,” Tristan said. “Maybe it was providence, me getting this place, huh?”

Joely squeezed his arm. “Maybe.”

Gordon and Stacy came in a few minutes later. From the look on his face and the edgy way he moved around the studio, Joely could tell Gordon still wasn’t entirely at ease with the prospect of the photo shoot.

“Nervous, hottie?” she drawled, walking over to stand beside him as he studied the collage of photos on the back wall.

He shoved his hands into his pockets and stared at her with a narrowed gaze. “You’re enjoying this.”

She laughed. “Yes and no. You have to admit there’s a lot of room here for teasing. But it is a job I have to do, and I truly appreciate your doing this.

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